The Baker's Son
by Psieks
Summary: The Striders are local gods in an ancient city-state in Europe. When their kind decides to retire from his position, the next in line for their heavens crown denies the right. Dirk has a spouse chosen for him by his two older brothers, but isn't very keen on the idea.
1. Chapter 1

The streets of Sousa are bustling in the way considered normal for the time. A baker renowned on his block for sweet breads hustles through the crowds with loads of baskets. Another cluster is carried by his son, a gangly, olive-skinned boy near the age of fourteen. He bumps into a young woman and quickly apologizes. His mediocre vision of course prevented her from being seen immediately.

Their sandals skirt puddles in the ground, which are remaining signs of one of their great gods' content. He'd blessed them all with rain and of course that means thank you offerings will be in order alongside the regular. Naturally, the best of every batch will be carried by the baker and his son as offerings to the local gods. The four of them all were very much involved in the lives of citizens for the most part and their hard work needed to be supplemented by excellent baking. James happily fulfills the task.

Little does James know, every night John prays to a god of his own, one that could get him out of the stuffy romantics and disillusioned old men obsessed with work. He's about as likely to exist as their local gods, so why not make up his own game? It centers around his own character, the God of Wind and Tricks, a prankster who flies and brings laughter to the faces of the common men. He's pretty much got the best sense of humor around and some sweet pranks to boot. A mortal like you, even as the best prankster around, could possibly be defeated by the man. At least, only until round two!

He sounds like a much better god than any of the four Striders... Having a guy for love and fertility is so cliche. Then another for lust and forge. Artists take the baby as their patron, he's the representative of all things part of a finer nature. There's no course of action that couldn't end in their king being the guy who's got it down with the weather. There has to be some way to defer responsibility when there's a crop failure or a combination of sour events causes loss of a home. All of those are lame. Lame, lame, lame.

In the streets, the father and son wave to passersby before entering the cool air of the temple. It's neither too dry nor too most and remains fresh in spite of lack of ventilation. The baskets of sweet breads immediately perfume the air and priests attend to the offerings, helping the men carry them to the altar in the center and places them between the four brother gods.

A single ray of sunlight falls onto the round table made of marble that's nearly as pale as their gods' skin. A bust of each is placed in their associated cardinal direction and adorned with representative colors. _None of them really have names. They're not people, so who even knows they need to eat?_ John asks himself. One of them, the God of Love and Fertility is smirking from behind pointy shades. _Bastard looks like he heard me._


	2. Chapter 2

In the temple's most richly decorated room, four brothers wait for the offerings to be brought in. The eldest is heavily draped in fine fabrics that were burned in rituals especially for him. A delicate golden circlet sits lightly on the crown of his head with a single ruby in the center to differentiate from the other three. Marble busts that are near the paleness of their skin sit at the corner of each room, each bearing a likeness to one of the local gods. This room, the home of the Strider brothers is lit by a fire well tended to with kindling and aromatic herbs when the times are right.

Priests enter, dropping low and bowing in toward each bust before approaching the flame. Baskets of offerings including the bread from John and James are set around it while the ritual is prepared. Unseen by the priests, the youngest Strider brother waves his hand in front of their faces. It never gets old playing an ironic game of now you see me now you don't.

Orange oil fills the room with its bitter scent when added directly to the flame, but it quickly is transformed by other elements into an intoxicating smoke. It's all part of a mishmash of other essences and herbs that are an an intricate and confusing formula tailored specifically to send the offerings to the Striders. With the flames hungrily lapping nearer the baskets, the high priest nods the signal for everyone to begin feeding in every item brought in to the temple as a sacrifice today.

Decorations are first into the flame and the goods are instantly transported to their palace in the realm of the gods as the physical item chars slowly. Lower priests continue adding offerings while the high priest prepares a final addition. "Are you sure it's within our rights to test this?" one of the lowers asks. "We don't even know if the sisterhood-"

A bleeding heart is placed carefully in the pit of flame behind the last offering and the priest silences himself. The flower, unlike everything else, does not burn immediately. "Dirk it's for you," D mimes picking up the flower and handing it over. Bro chuckles to himself and murmurs something. Without thinking, Dirk picks up the flower and sticks it beneath his circlet. Priests gasp as on their side the stem gives in to heat and hurriedly leave. With the room empty and the overseeing of the sacrifices complete, D, Bro, Dirk, and Dave make their way into the flame and are transported home.

Once there, they all tuck into a meal fresh from Sousa while seated around their grand table. "I think some of the Sisterhood of Light had one of their seers catch a little something," D nudges toward a topic of conversation he'd been unable to reach all week. He'd discussed it with Bro of course, but the younger twin Striders were still in the dark.

"Oh yeah? Caught like what, you with that cake girl way back when our caught like when-"

"That's enough, Dave. Jane's not one of Sousa's deities but she's going to get the same respect in our soil and in our domain as she gets in hers. Now I'm trying to say something important."

"That's ice cold, man. You know I'd never-"

"Quiet before I gag ya," Bro silences Dave swiftly. Both older brothers are impatient and how to get the announcement over with for the sake of their day's advancement. "Dirk, ya may want to pay attention because this is all you."


	3. Chapter 3

There is no change in Dirk, but Bro carries on to begin his spiel. "Now we all know abou' D's little girl over in Crelium, right? He's goin' over there indefinitely, abdicatin' away from his little bros. Apparently Sousa don't need a present weather god, but tha's not what's important." Both of the twins are unchanged by the announcement. D and Jane had been married for awhile, mostly out of necessity. Every king needs a good wife. His decision to take domain over her city she'd been the heiress to was inevitable and only a matter of time.

"I'm not really sure how this concerns me," Dirk replied with his words slightly muffled by a mouthful of bread. "He's not not our king anymore, it's just that he kind of... needs a viceroy. You're being dramatic."

"There's a reason that it's a big deal," D takes the conversation. Instead of babbling like Bro, he's more businesslike. "Bro isn't interested in the position. That puts you in line. You're our viceroy for Sousa, king relative to all the mortals, a different kind of king to one of them."

"You're gettin' married, Dirky!" Bro shouts through a glass of wine he poured while D was busy explaining the situation. Dave breaks his silence to laugh at his older twin's face. What s bomb had been dropped at the table. It could almost generate enough energy to make Dirk's hair lie flat like Dave and D's. "We picked you a hot lil fucker, real cutie with a booty. We know you'll like 'im."

While his future is laid before him, a million thoughts race through Dirk's head. He's a god of live and they're expecting him to marry on the spot? Did they really get his preferences? What if they picked someone dark skinned? Their ascension to godhood would be near lethally excruciating, more than he could bear to watch. It's a lot to take in, and the logic doesn't match up. Could his brothers rally just be making excuses to make him look like a better representative to lovers? "... whoa hell it's like he's getting into a sweet bread hookup...hell yeah it's a sweet bread hookup ... now, Dirk, all you've got to do is go down as ... I'll admit John is pretty cute, you're lucky ... now you know how to win a boy over so buck up ... when you're a mortal you'll need to not only ..."

"Convince him he's a god AND win the guy's heart? What kind of grass did they put in your sacrificial urn, Bro?! I know he's our favorite, but we're not omniscient. John might not even swing that way..." Dave glances in a concerned manner. Dirk's silence does not bode well and the initial excitement for his older twin is killed.

"You alright, man?" he scoots over and whispers.

"Yeah, I guess. It's just kinda shocking, right? John... I've seen him before and sparks didn't fly."

"Maybe you've just got to give him a chance. Divine power won't work on deities, so you can't go cupid your ass on him. Fall in love with him the human way." Their hands find each other and grasp tightly for comfort. No time limit had been set yet, but going down into Sousa and beginning the wooing of John would need to take place soon. Human guises would need to be made and backstories arranged. At least one of them would need to stay behind and supervise Sousa from above while everyone else was on the project with Dirk.

"Dave?"

"Mhmm?"

"I think I'll try for them, but I've got a bad feeling about all of this..." He seeks comfort again in the gentle pressure of Dave's hand, knowing that their older brothers weren't really thinking about him. Whatever motive is behind their forcing him into marriage, it doesn't seem important. It doesn't seem to be about being king. Again, the thoughts begin to fly. Harsh and rapidly made conclusions form and a nervous twitch starts in Dirk's shoulders, traveling down both arms into his fingertips. The ripples of anxiety continue as he pushes himself out of his seat, letting go of Dave's hand. "I'm going to pack," he announces to Bro. "I'll be ready to leave at dawn tomorrow, so you fuckers better all be ready then."


	4. Chapter 4

Brilliant early morning Sousan sunlight renders the four gods a breathtaking display. Their pale skin reflects it all so that even under masquerade as members of mankind, they're still godlike. Temple priests wave to the four newcomers to the city with an air of respect, their status as aristocrats being the reason behind it all. If only they knew.

"Now what? We're here. Do I go and get the guy or...?"

"Bro and I will arrange a meeting. Everything will fall into the plan..." D yawns and lovingly tousles his younger brother's hair. It's been awhile since they've had human bodies. Once given some thought, it seems they haven't walked among men as men since the building of Sousa. At one point, the plain the city was built upon had been just that. Plain. Unoccupied. Unimpressive. Unclaimed by the gods. Then, the four brothers had been assigned here and D had needed to woo a human. That had been the last time the Striders walked among men. Jane's reassignment to Crelium as of late by the highest power now called for this. Dirk makes a mental note to blame everything on Jane once he's ascended.

The street's condition worsens slightly as they step further away from the temple. With all of the foresight in the world, D led the quartet to the home he bought when the city was built. It's old, older than almost all of the buildings, and seated in the very heart of the city's aristocratic neighborhood. Under the guise of a vacation home owned by a very wealthy family with roots deep in the country's history, they're largely left alone. It's not like they couldn't make up excuses, but making up something new every time is harder. "Are we flipping a coin for palettes again?"

"No way in hell I'm sharing with Dave," Bro grumbles. "We lost that shit and our baby's a kicker, even outside the womb."

"Shut up, Bro. That's only 'cause you were stealing the blankets. Did we even come from a womb?"

"God knows."

Everyone gets a laugh out of that. Even D, who has been dry and humorless all morning cracks a grin. Once the noise subsides, he takes over. "I honestly don't care where any of you sleep. We'll get that figured out by tonight or we're in a dog pile on the floor, got it?" The three younger brothers nod. "Now everything's there because we descended properly unlike the nightmare last time. You're so lucky, Dirk. You really are. Can we go and meet your husband-to-be before I have to go into Crelium?"

He's so blunt, so incredibly blunt. You don't just go up to a guy, tell him you're getting married, and then proceed to marry. It's not how love works, but D doesn't know that. Jane and him were lucky to be a good match. They had chemistry, real attraction. She'd been a favorite of his from the moment he started watching Sousa during training. He'd had actual time to check out girls and guys and everyone. His job never sent him specifically anywhere.

Meanwhile, Dirk is getting couples together and pregnant all day every day for hundreds, no, thousands of years. Work never exactly took him to someone _available_. Ever. Now he's going to marry a guy named John Egbert, a guy he only knows as the son of another guy who makes badass sweet bread. That's always the start to a good love story. It couldn't ever go wrong. Never ever could an arranged marriage go wrong. Never ever could a marriage arranged by the gods, especially the ones who don't actually have that job, go wrong. _You guys are crazy if you think I'm actually going along with this_.

"What's that, Dirky?" Bro teases. "You look like you're not adjusting so well to the smell of this place."

"Yeah. Well maybe you should hurry up so that we can get outta this horseshit street and into the bakery. If we were following my agenda we'd already be there, but you insisted we do all this formal walking around crap so that we can _familiarize _ourselves. This is our town. We've watched it for a long time. I think we all know the layout."

Some strangers by the side of the street glance over and bashfully look away. _"We're supposed to be keeping a low profile, Dirk,"_ D hisses under his breath. _"No matter what you think of the air in this place, you're going to put up with it and act your part. Please just make this easier for all of us. We're walking toward the bakery now, anyway. Why can't you just be quiet and wait like Dave is?"_

A snide response is held back. This is obviously not the perfect beginning to a mission of love. Did anyone ever mention a deadline? No? Good. Give him a human lifetime at least.

**Okay all of my work from now on may be updating slowly. Between school and being varsity color guard I've got a lot on my plate. Please hang with me on this and any of my other stories you follow. I promise I'll try to keep things as quality as possible while trying to get at least one update a week. Reviews get the ideas flowing.**


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